Introduction

The 2 CSPs “The i” and “The Daily Mail” construct an ideological view of the world based on their political compasses, The Daily Mail constructs a conservative view of the world, based around what they want and their views – whereas The i constructs a more liberal view of the world, shown in their neutrality.

Argument

The Daily Mail is a conservative newspaper, proven 0by quotes in the June 6th 2022 publication, such as “Boris Johnson is by a country mile the best person to lead the Tory government” on the editorial page. This quote is in support of Boris Johnson, the conservative Prime Minister of the UK. Furthermore, the newspaper opposes those who are against conservatism with quotes such as  “Tory rebels plotting catastrophe”. This quote shows to me that The Daily Mail is unhappy with the “Tory Rebels”, it also shows that the paper is a Tory paper – they want the Tory’s to succeed and is unhappy that the rebels are getting in the way of that. “Gimcrack alliance… they are either clueless or simply don’t care”, this quote shows the negative views that the paper has on the alliance – and that they believe that those supporting it are clueless. “Only Starmer gains from this clueless plot” helps to show this, Starmer is the leader of the Labour party, who the Daily Mail would not want in charge. Other quotes show The Daily Mails older and more traditional views, for example in the editorial column “Is West End going broke because it’s gone all woke?”. This quote is making fun of being “woke”, suggesting that it is the cause of the West End going “broke”. The Daily Mail is owned by the “Daily Mail and General Trust” – who’s chairman is The 4th Viscount Rothermere. Rothermere is a supporter of the former conservative leader David Cameron, which shows that he too is conservative. In addition, Lord Rothermere, who owned the paper before the 4th Viscount Rothermere, was a friend of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler- showing his support of them by directing the Daily Mail’s editorial stance in their favour during the early 1930’s. The paper was originally founded by Alfred Harmsworth in 1896, who whilst he was chairman, the paper reported on “The Shell Crisis of 1915”. The stance that the paper took was so critical of the liberal government, it caused the end of H. H. Asquiths lead as Prime Minister.

I would argue that the Daily Mail constructs an ideological view of the world based around conservatism, to target audiences who are conservative. Throughout the papers history, it has gone against liberals and supported those who are conservative (i.e. Hitler, Mussolini, Cameron) and shows more traditional or older views on the world – such as blaming being “woke” on the current downfall of the West End.

“The i” is a more liberal newspaper. Whilst also being owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust, it is run independently with only one editor. Whereas the Daily Mail openly supports the conservative party, The i does not – choosing to not endorse any political party during key moments such as elections. However quotes such as “How long before Priti Patel makes it illegal to boo at someone we find offensive?” openly criticise the conservative party – showing the papers liberal stance. In addition, Nick Clegg, a liberal deputy Prime Minister is a fortnightly columnist for the paper – having a liberal columnist shows the papers support for the liberals as opposed to having a conservative columnist. Jeremy Corbyn, former leader of the labour party, also showed his support for the newspaper – declaring himself a dedicated reader. This support to and from the left-wing parties shows that the paper is more liberal than the Daily Mail. whether they want to remain neutral or not. Furthermore, Oliver Duff – the editor for the paper – is the youngest editor for any UK national newspaper, which may give The i some newer views than the Daily Mails older ones. Whereas the Daily Mail has an editorial column, which shows the editors views and does not give a voice to many, The i has an “opinion matrix” instead; which can include a range of different voices and opinions and gives more freedom and plurality in those voices and opinions.

I would argue that The i, unlike the Daily Mail, is a lot more left wing. Whilst the newspaper tries to stay more neutral through methods such as not endorsing political parties during elections, the choice of including Nick Clegg’s fortnightly column shows the papers support for the left wing as opposed to the right wing. Even outside of the i’s editorial choices, having Jeremy Corbyn show public support of them tells us that the paper is more agreeable with those of the left wing. The i tries to construct a more neutral view of the world instead of constructing an ideological view of the world for the left or right wing, but outside influence gives the paper a more left wing view of the world.

Noam Chomsky states that the motive of the media is profit, and that critical journalism takes second place. The Daily Mail’s and The i’s journalism construct their views to target the audiences that buy into those views and increase profits. Noam Chomsky also states that there are 5 filters of mass media, and both papers have been shown to use these. For example, “Links with the establishment” – as mentioned earlier, Lord Rothermere was friends with Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini, and supported both of them in The Daily Mail during the 30’s. Even now, the front page of the Daily Mail quotes “Joyous Jubilee” alongside a picture of Queen Elizabeth – which is in clear support of the royal family, the establishment of the UK. Another example of the 5 filters of mass media is “Uniting against a common enemy”. This is shown in The i, with their criticisms of different political parties. As mentioned earlier “How long before Priti Patel makes it illegal to boo at someone we find offensive?” in The i is clear criticism of the the conservative parties members.

MEDIA ESSAY – Newspaper CSP

Media products utilise a constructional view of the world and current times to target certain audiences and make sales. As Denis Mcqauil states “The media do serve the ‘public interest’ or ‘general welfare’ whether it’s by design or chance”” saying that the newspapers we read today are designed to sway and support our own decisions and that it doesn’t matter how it came about, that is the truth. As well as this, in the second half of the 19th century Karl Marx argued that the ideas of the governing power were causing too much in society and that people should take a step back and look at what they’re doing before they mindlessly follow it.

Firstly, we can see that within the newspaper “The Daily Mail” on page eighteen for the 06/06/22 paper the statement “Boris Johnson is by a country mile the best person to lead the Tory Government.” was made by Christopher Hart who is a writer/journalist for the daily mail. This displays one of the 5 filters of mass media, the structures of ownership. Media conglomerates are mostly owned or swayed by the government and if they go against it, the paper is seen to be less popular and many stories, proof and sources are deemed untrustworthy by other papers that have criticised them due to the governments input. Secondly this page can be seen to support the UK prime minister which supports Noam Chomskys idea that “the media is hand to hand with the government” and that they “are swayed to make stories which will change the opinion of the public” which we can see in the Daily mail throughout.

For example, on page six of the 06/06/22 Daily mail paper, the quote “Final parade was so very British” which refers to the Queens Jubilee party over the bank holiday weekend of 12-15 of May 2022. The quote directly supports the party and speaks of how great it was which further supports Chomskys idea that “the media is hand to hand with the government”, as well as this, the quote supports the idea that the Daily Mail is a right wing, authoritarian paper which supports the Conservative party which we can also see in the quote on page 2 “Tory rebels ‘are plotting a course to catastrophe’” implying people against the conservative party are causing mayhem which we can see in the quote “are plotting a course to catastrophe”.

Furthermore, we can see in “The I” newspaper from 06/06/22 the quote on page 20 “Thank you for saying what needed to be said about the Isralian state” which supports Habermas’ idea of the public sphere. Habermas said the public sphere was the mass spread of communication that came around with newspapers and letters were produced, which we can see used here to spread information about the Isralian state. Secondly the quote on page 20 “How long before Priti Patel makes it illegal to boo at someone we find offensive” which supports Antonia Gramsci’s idea of hegemony which is the theory that the state and ruling class have too much power and use cultural institutions to maintain power and control in society. We can see this because the quote “Priti Patel makes it illegal” implying he would abuse his powers to ban something he doesn’t like and make it the way he wants in court. Priti is the Conservative MP which shows that “The I” is a left-wing libertarian newspaper, being the opposite of the Daily mail despite the fact that both “The Daily Mail” and “The I” are owned by “The Daily Mail general trust”.

Lastly we can see that “The I” support Karl Mark’s idea that relationships between capitalists and workers were inherently exploitative and would inevitably create class conflict, we can see this as they didn’t pick a political party to side with in the 2017 and 2019 elections which can raise peoples thoughts of “The I” in whether to further support them. As well as this Nick Clegg, a deputy prime minister (libertarian”) sided and said he is a reader of “The I” which can further prove that “The I” is suited and written towards the members of the public that support the libertarian approach to politics.

In conclusion both “The Daily Mail” and “The I” target audiences by construction an idea logical view of the world, whether that’s through politics, war, celebrations or opinions.